HORSHAM 4 CARSHALTON ATHLETIC 1

HORSHAM:
1.Alan Mansfield 2.Andy Howard 3.Nigel Brake 4.Eddie French 5.Kevin Hemsley 6.Lee Carney 7.Jacob Mingle 8.John Westcott (Myall) 9.Simon Austin 10.Carl Rook 11.Gary Charman Subs: 12.Tom Graves 14.Stuart Myall 15.Yinka Salaam 16.Dean Wright 17.Rob Frankland
Scorers: Rook (3, 54 pen), Carney (36,78)

CARSHALTON ATHLETIC:
1.Aaron Howe 2.Simon Cooper 3.Liam Harwood 4.David Graves 5.Jon Cartledge (Spencer) 6.James Evans 7.Gray Drewitt 8.Luke Fontana 9.Phil Ruggles (MacLeod) 10.Craig Dundas 11.Ryan Watts Subs: 12.Jack MacLeod 14.Moses Spencer 15.Christopher Day 16.Jamie King 17.Ben Rayner
Scorers: Watts (59)

reporter: Mark Wells
Photographs: John Lines

Five goals, two more disallowed and a sending-off ought to add up to a thoroughly entertaining afternoon at the Atspeed Stadium as the Hornets recorded their fourth win in five matches to move in to second place in the Ryman Premier Division table. Yet, for long periods, this was a disjointed match with Horsham rarely getting out of second gear against a side who have struggled since winning their opening game of the season at Harrow Borough and, although Carshalton may point to the first half dismissal of their captain David Graves, the game was all but over at that stage with the Hornets 2-0 ahead and rarely troubled in defence.

John Maggs handed a debut to former Maidstone United striker Simon Austin, signed just 48 hours earlier as cover for the injured Lee Farrell, and the Horsham boss was given a further boost when Carl Rook declared himself fit to play despite being rated as only 50-50 following Thursday night's training session. With midfield dynamo Lewis Taylor also absent, Maggs was able to drop Gary Charman back to his favoured midfield role after playing up front in Monday's defeat at Margate.

The match kicked off with Horsham defending the Cowshed end of the ground but it was Carshalton's Liam Harwood who had the first strike on goal, advancing down the slope before letting fly with an effort that flew high over Alan Mansfield's goal. The home fans didn't have long to before they were celebrating a goal when Andy Howard's throw-in, close to the corner flag, was inadvertently helped on by Harwood for Rook to sweep the ball home from 10 yards after just 3 minutes. Rook was denied a second, a quarter of an hour later, when a fine run by Nigel Brake, from midway inside his own half, took him in to the Robins' penalty area before cutting the ball back towards Austin whose mishit shot was helped into the net by Rook only for the linesman's flag to rule out the goal. The incident was met with heated protests from the home faithful, who had already been bemused by a number of the official's earlier decisions, prompting his parentage and visual abilities to be called into question. Such was the visitors' ineffectiveness that Mansfield wasn't called upon to make a save until the 25th minute when he comfortably fielded a dipping volley from Simon Cooper. The industrious Austin combined with John Westcott down the Horsham right to create an opening for Jacob Mingle, his shot blocked by Jon Cartledge, before Westcott himself went close after latching on to Brake's pass and drilling a low shot past the far post on 30 minutes. Carshalton had the ball in the Horsham net, minutes later, but this time it was they who fell foul of the match officials when James Evans' smart finish was ruled out for a clear push on Eddie French by Phil Ruggles. The hosts' lead was doubled on 36 minutes with a clinical goal from Carney. Collecting the ball on the halfway line, he slipped the ball through to Rook in yards of space behind the Robins' back line before charging on to meet his team-mate's measured return pass and casually sidefooting past goalkeeper for his second of the season. With a little under an hour remaining, Carshalton were already looking a beaten side and Rook sent a chipped effort high over the top after good work from Austin. Yet, despite their comfortable lead, the hosts showed occasional moments of insecurity at the back and, when a corner was poorly defended by Mingle, Luke Fontana touched the ball off to Ruggles who blasted over from close range. The Robins were controversially reduced to ten men, shortly before the break, when Graves sent Charman sprawling with a high kick that appeared to catch the Horsham man in the middle of the back. Refere Pinto Nunes immediately hoisted the red card and the Robins skipper was dismissed. The home side lay siege to their opponents' goal in the few minutes that remained, forcing a succession of corners, but were unable to capitalise on their numerical advantage thanks to an instinctive close range save from Howe although Austin might have done better with a far post header.

H/T: Horsham 2 Carshalton Athletic 0

Carshalton made a switch at half time, boss Dave Garland replacing Jon Cartledge with last season's reserve team player of the year Moses Spencer, as his side prepared for the inevitable second half onslaught. Just two minutes had elapsed when a short corner found Carney tricking his way into the Robins box with Spencer's scuffed clearance going only as far as Charman whose snapshot was blocked by a wall of defenders. The pressure soon paid off, though, as the visitors' defence was breached once more in the 54th minute with the unfortunate Spencer playing a major part. Conceding a free-kick on the left touchline after a clumsy foul on Austin, the big defender took up his position inside the 18 yard box only for Rook's flicked header to strike him on the hand to leave Mr Pinto Nunes little choice in pointing to the spot. Harwood was booked for voicing his protests and, with regular penalty taker Taylor watching on from the sidelines, it was Rook who strode forward and struck the ball beyond Howe's dive and inside his right hand post to make the score 3-0. Garland immediately made another substitution with former Crawley Town midfielder Jack MacLeod replacing the ineffective Ruggles. With a commanding lead, and the prospect of a trip to Leyton to come on Tuesday, the Hornets took their foot off the pedal and were punished when Ryan Watts stole in between Howard and Westcott to head Cooper's deep cross past Mansfield to reduce the deficit to two goals once more. The Robins, prompted by the hard working Evans, started to take the game to Horsham whose sudden lack of cohesion was a mystery as their game disintegrated into a series of misplaced passes and Spencer lobbed an effort over the top from a free-kick. The Hornets slowly began stringing some passes together and Austin was involved in his side's next couple of chances, linking up with Charman who skipped round Harwood before firing in a shot that cannoned away off of Howe's body, and then putting Carney through on goal only for Howe to get a vital hand to the ball as the midfielder looked set to go round him and slot the ball in to the empty net. A loose pass from Brake saw French having to clear as a long pass almost put Craig Dundas in on goal before Austin's debut was marred by a harsh booking for an alleged dive after appearing to have been obstructed by Harwood. Mansfield, relatively untroubled during the match, produced a fine save from the lively MacLeod as the visitors threatened to make it a nervy finale for the home fans but their nerves were soon calmed with a fourth goal, twelve minutes from time. An attempted pass by Cooper was charged down by Charman, the ball falling for Austin who instantly released the unmarked Rook inside the penalty area. With all the time in the world to look up and find his man, the striker rolled the ball invitingly in to the path of Carney who knocked it home from eight yards. Only an excellent challenge by Cooper ended a determined 40 yard run from Charman, who looked to have outpaced the flat-footed Carshalton back four, but the visitors created a couple of goalscoring chances themselves as Mansfield turned MacLeod's shot behind at the near post and then Fontana wasted a golden opportunity by blazing high and wide after being picked out by a good pass from Evans. With the game won, Maggs sent on Stuart Myall for Westcott and Brake was able to push forward and send a deep cross to the far post where the normally deadly Charman headed over the top. Carshalton almost finished the game with a second goal under bizarre circumstances. A challenge on Harwood by Charman saw the Horsham man lose a boot and, despite continuing to play on, Horsham's long-serving midfielder was penalised by the referee despite having fairly won the tackle, and a subsequent one on Evans. As the free-kick was swung in from the left touchline, Spencer and Dundas tried in vain to force the ball over the line before Hemsley hacked the ball clear and the match was over.

A third successive victory for Horsham over their Surrey opponents, who look to be in for a tough season on this showing, and Maggs will have been delighted that Carl Rook played his first full ninety minutes of the campaign while Simon Austin looks to have been a decent acquisition to the squad. The Hornets travel to bottom club Leyton on Tuesday hoping to get the win that could take them back to the top of the table.

More match photos can be found here

NEXT MATCH: v Leyton (a) Tuesday 4th September ko 7.45pm